In a typical aggregate operation there are multiple grades of aggregate that are loaded upon trucks with a loader. A loader is typically the first point in which a product is loaded into a truck and affords an opportunity for the tracking of inventory at the point of delivery of the aggregate to a truck.
When attempting to keep track of the number of full truck loads or buckets of material provided to a hopper, a truck or a stock pile, a loader operator typically uses several mechanical palm counters in the cab of the vehicle with each representing a type of aggregate that is moved. These palm counters are typically mounted in the structure of the cab and are manually marked and selected for each aggregate. Loaders that are equipped with a weighing system also utilize a “remote add” switch to add the weight in the bucket to a truck total and then a “remote clear” switch to reset the truck weight value. For example, the loader operator moves three different aggregates per day. It is the responsibility of the operator to keep track of the number of trucks filled with each of the three aggregates. To keep track of each aggregate and the number of trucks filled, the operator places three palm counters in the cab labeled as counter 1, 2 and 3, corresponding to the three types of aggregate. When the operator fills a bucket, the weighing system will request that the weight in the bucket be added to the truck and the operator presses the remote add button to add the total. This is done with every bucket load. When the truck with aggregate 1 is full, the operator presses the “remote clear” button to zero out the truck weight. In addition, the operator will then increment the palm counter labeled 1 by one count.
What is needed in the art is an apparatus that will allow a loader operator to be more efficient and reduce errors associated with the counting of loads.